How Do I Keep Hyperlinks When Converting Chm To Pdf?

If you've ever wrestled with a CHM that looks gorgeous in its viewer but turns into a mangled, image-free mess when printed, I feel you — I've done the conversion dance more times than I'd like to admit. My go-to, most reliable way is to decompile the CHM first and then rebuild into PDF, because that preserves folder structure, image files, and relative links. On Windows, open a Command Prompt and run: hh.exe -decompile output_folder yourfile.chm. That extracts all the HTML, images, CSS and TOC into a folder. If you don't have hh.exe handy, 7-Zip also works: 7z x yourfile.chm -ooutput_folder. On Linux/macOS, use chmlib tools like extract_chmLib or the chmextract script to get the same result. Once everything's out, check the output folder — if you can open the main index HTML in a browser and see images, you're good. From there you have options. For a quick GUI route, load the main HTML into a browser and use Print → Save as PDF (or print to 'Microsoft Print to PDF'). For better control and a true single-file PDF, use wkhtmltopdf: wkhtmltopdf --enable-local-file-access path/to/index.html output.pdf (that flag keeps local images working). If you prefer an ebook tool, Calibre's CLI ebook-convert input_folder/index.html output.pdf often handles images well and offers DPI/page-size settings. Tweak DPI, margins, and CSS if images are scaling weirdly. Small tip: if your CHM had images referenced via weird MSIT paths, decompiling usually fixes that. I usually run a quick scan for missing src= links before finalizing the PDF, and if a few images are off, re-link them or use a local CSS override. Happy converting — it’s oddly satisfying to go from a locked CHM to a neat, searchable PDF you can keep forever.

Okay, here’s what I usually reach for when I want a CHM to PDF conversion that actually keeps a usable bookmark/outline: Calibre, chm2pdf (the CLI tool), and a two-step extract-then-render workflow with wkhtmltopdf or pandoc. I tinker with ebooks in my free evenings, so I’ve tried the sloppy one-click printers and the fancier approaches — the difference shows most when you need the PDF outline to mirror the CHM table of contents. If you want something simple and cross-platform, try Calibre. Import the CHM, then use Convert books → PDF and pay attention to the “Structure detection” / “Table of contents” settings: tell it to build the TOC from the CHM’s built-in navigation or from headings. Calibre often writes that TOC into the PDF as bookmarks, though you should always check the resulting file in a PDF viewer. For a more deterministic result on Linux, the command-line tool chm2pdf (usually in distro repos) is made specifically to convert CHM into PDF and can preserve the CHM TOC as PDF outlines — check your package docs for the exact flags on bookmarks. If you want full control and don’t mind a longer route, extract the CHM contents (7-Zip or extract_chmLib), then render the site to PDF with wkhtmltopdf (it has options to create an outline/toc) or run the HTML through pandoc to LaTeX and export with hyperref so the TOC becomes PDF bookmarks. This takes more steps but gives the best fidelity and lets you fix CSS, fonts, or broken links first. Quick tip: always verify encoding and images after conversion, and if the CHM is huge, split sections before converting to avoid memory issues.

I've converted CHM files a bunch of times and usually reach for a couple of reliable tricks depending on how clean I want the PDF to look. If you want a quick, GUI-driven method that preserves the layout and table of contents, I recommend installing Calibre. Once Calibre is installed, either drag the .chm into the main window and use 'Convert books' → set output to PDF, or use the command line: ebook-convert "input.chm" "output.pdf". You can tweak PDF options like default font and margins in the Calibre converter settings if images or fonts look off. If you prefer something even faster for single files, open the CHM with SumatraPDF (or the built-in Windows CHM viewer), then choose Print → Microsoft Print to PDF (or another virtual PDF printer). That prints exactly what you see, which is great for simple pages but might fragment long TOCs or lose embedded search metadata. For power users: extract the CHM (it’s basically an archive) with 7-Zip, then open the extracted HTML files in a browser and use Print → Save as PDF, or run wkhtmltopdf on the main HTML file to get better control over pagination and headers. This route helps if you need to edit HTML, fix character encoding (e.g., Chinese/Japanese), or stitch pages differently. A quick tip: always check bookmarks/TOC in the generated PDF and verify fonts are embedded if you plan to share the file.

Okay, here’s a hands-on route that always works for me when I’ve got a folder full of dusty .chm files and I want neat PDFs: use 'Calibre' and its command-line tool, then loop through the files in Terminal. First, install Calibre on macOS: brew install --cask calibre (or download from the website). The GUI can bulk-convert, but for reliable scripting I use the bundled tool ebook-convert. On macOS its path is usually /Applications/calibre.app/Contents/MacOS/ebook-convert. Then open Terminal and run something like: for f in ~/Downloads/chm/*.chm; do out="${f%.chm}.pdf" /Applications/calibre.app/Contents/MacOS/ebook-convert "$f" "$out" --paper-size a4 --pdf-default-font-size 12 done That loop processes every .chm in the folder and writes PDFs next to them. If you prefer zsh (default on newer macOS) the same loop works. I also add flags for margins, font size, or output profile if I want fixed-layout or mobile-friendly PDFs. For parallel jobs, brew install parallel and replace the loop with a GNU parallel command to speed things up on multi-core machines. Quick tips from my trials: CHMs with complex CSS or embedded scripts sometimes lose layout, so try tweaking --paper-size and --pdf-default-font-size. If you want a GUI, open Calibre, add the books, select them all, and hit Convert books → Bulk convert to PDF — it exposes many options visually. And if you care about privacy, do the conversion locally rather than uploading files to an online converter.

Honestly, it really comes down to a few simple variables, and once you know them you can predict the time pretty well. If the CHM is a plain text manual — say under 5–10 MB with few images — converting to PDF on a modern laptop usually takes seconds to a minute. I’ve converted a 4 MB programming guide in under 10 seconds using a desktop tool, and the result was instant. When the file gets image-heavy (screenshots, embedded diagrams) or includes a complex table of contents, expect that to stretch into minutes. A 50–100 MB CHM full of scanned pages or lots of high-resolution images can easily take 5–20 minutes, depending on your converter and CPU. If OCR is required because the CHM contains scanned images instead of selectable text, add significant time — sometimes the OCR step alone is longer than the conversion. Batch jobs are a different beast: converting dozens or hundreds of CHMs in one go can take hours, mainly because of I/O and memory constraints; I once ran a batch overnight and it still had a backlog the next morning. Also factor in where the conversion happens — local conversion on fast SSD + decent RAM is far quicker than uploading to a cloud service, where upload/download times and server queue can add minutes or more. Tip: do a short trial with one file to measure, then scale your expectations accordingly.

Honestly, when I tinker with CHM-to-PDF conversions I get oddly sentimental about page layout — it’s like preparing a book for someone who really loves bookmarks. If you want predictable, clean PDFs, start by choosing the right conversion tool: for quick jobs I use 'Calibre' (ebook-convert), and for high-fidelity output I extract the HTML with 7-Zip or a CHM extractor and render with 'wkhtmltopdf' or 'Prince'. That initial choice already dictates which settings you’ll lean on: Calibre exposes paper size and margin controls, while wkhtmltopdf/Prince let you control CSS and @page rules directly. Practically, set your paper size to what your readers expect (A4 for Europe, Letter for US). Margins matter — 15–25 mm is a sweet spot for body text; wider if you want room for binding. Pick a base font size of 10–12pt and set a comfortable line-height (1.2–1.4). For images, aim for 150–300 DPI depending on whether the PDF is for screen or print; downsample large images to avoid bloated files but don’t crush detail. Enable font embedding so special characters and non-Latin scripts render properly, and make sure the conversion uses UTF-8 encoding to avoid garbled text. Don’t forget navigation: preserve the CHM table of contents and convert it into PDF bookmarks — that’s a big UX win. Use CSS to control page breaks (page-break-inside: avoid for headings and figures) and to keep code blocks and tables from splitting awkwardly (white-space: pre-wrap; overflow-wrap: anywhere). If you need maximum typographic quality, clean the extracted HTML, add a custom stylesheet with @page sizing and headers/footers, then render with Prince or wkhtmltopdf; that extra cleanup step makes PDFs that actually feel like books rather than dumps of HTML.

If you want a quick web way to turn a .chm into a PDF without wrestling with command-line tools, there are a few reputable sites I use and trust for casual conversions. My first pick is CloudConvert — it usually handles .chm files cleanly, keeps a simple interface, and shows basic options like page size or image compression before you convert. Convertio is another solid choice; it’s fast, supports batch uploads up to the free tier limits, and often preserves formatting better than some one-click converters. Zamzar still hangs around as a reliable old-school option if you prefer email-based delivery and clear progress indicators. A couple of safety tips from my own trial-and-error days: only use online converters for non-sensitive material unless you’ve verified the site’s privacy policy. Look for HTTPS in the URL, a clear file-deletion policy (many reputable services auto-delete after some hours), and an absence of weird pop-ups. Most free services impose size limits and may watermark or queue big jobs, so for large textbooks or manuals I switch to local tools like 'Calibre' or extract the .chm with 7-Zip and print HTML to PDF. Formatting can be hit-or-miss — images, fonts, and TOC entries sometimes need cleanup in a PDF editor afterward. If you like testing before committing, try converting a small sample chapter first; it saves time and frustration. Happy converting — and if you want, I can walk you through a Convertio or CloudConvert run step-by-step next.

If you've ever opened a dusty .chm manual and wished it were a neat PDF on your tablet, I’m right there with you — I do this stuff constantly and love finding clean, ad-free ways to do it. My go-to is 'Calibre' because it’s cross-platform, free, and surprisingly powerful. You can drag a .chm into Calibre and use the convert feature (or run ebook-convert from the command line) to get a PDF that preserves chapters and images better than most quick printers. If you prefer a lightweight route on Windows, open the CHM in SumatraPDF or the built-in HTML Help viewer and Print → choose 'Microsoft Print to PDF' (no ads, no extra installs on modern Windows). On Linux, the package chm2pdf (available in many repos) is a solid CLI tool that was made exactly for this. If you like tinkering, another reliable trick is to extract the HTML from the CHM (7‑Zip can open/extract the archive), then use 'wkhtmltopdf' or 'weasyprint' to render the HTML folder into a tidy PDF — you get better control over CSS, fonts, and page breaks this way. Tips from my experiments: check character encoding if you see gibberish, embed fonts for nicer results, and test one chapter to dial in margins and hyphenation before converting a whole series of files.